Seeing Familiar Faces
by ExoticFairyTail
Summary: [One Shot] After a few years of leaving to go to Germany with Noiz, Aoba has decided to visit Midorijima to see old friends. However, one friend in particular is excited to see his childhood friend but meets a person who a similar face to one that he used to fight with a long time ago


1658 days since the incident with Toue and Platinum Jail.

1650 days since Noiz left Aoba after the incident and disappeared for a good chunk of time.

1550 days since Noiz came back to Midorijima to bring Aoba back with him.

1548 days since Koujaku tried convincing Aoba not to leave, which lead to a small disagreement between the two.

1547 days since Koujaku apologized for his behavior and gave his blessings to Aoba.

1545 days since Koujaku and Tae said their goodbyes to Aoba and Noiz as they boarded the airplane to head to Germany.

1544 days later and Aoba, along with Noiz, is coming back. Well, not forever of course, but to at least visit those he left behind and Koujaku couldn't wait. Although they talked a few times over the past years that Aoba's been away, it just didn't the feel the same way it did when they were together. When they were both in each other's company and just sharing each other's aura. Screens took away that feeling away from them but now, they can have that again. Albeit, for a little bit, but it's better than nothing.

Koujaku, excited that Aoba was coming back, took the day off of work and took the time to wear different clothing. Instead of his usual getup, he decided to wear a thin red sweater and dark, slimming jeans, though he did keep on all his pieces of jewelry for more personal reasons. His hair was still a pony tail but his bangs were just a tad bit more flat than usual. It had been years since he last saw Aoba and subconsciously he wanted to impress Aoba and show him how much more sophisticated he's become over the years (even though he hasn't changed much).

Once Koujaku finished getting ready, he grabbed his keys and wallet from his side table and head out in the town. Outside, everyone was moving around quickly and there was a bit of traffic on the roads. It was hectic but that didn't stop Koujaku from heading towards Tae's house (a.k.a the place where Aoba and Noiz was staying while they were here). It just means that he's going to have to take a few alleyways to avoid the mass confusion.

After a while of tedious walking and trying to reason with Ribsters, Koujaku was about to turn into the last alleyway until something familiar caught his eye. To the right of him lies a small café that Koujaku and Aoba used to go to when they were younger. It always had the best cookies and desserts and their drinks made sure you left with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Normally there would be a lot of people over there but it's a tad bit empty today. However, there was one person sitting outside and it was him that got Koujaku to stop and really look at the young fellow. This man had gorgeous, golden locks that reached his shoulders and his face was extremely sharp but gorgeous at the same time. He wore very sophisticated European clothing that screamed out on how wealthy he was. The man looked extremely familiar and Koujaku was wondering who on Earth this man could possibly be. After a few seconds of pondering, it finally hit him: _It was Noiz. _

Ever since Koujaku met Noiz, they have never been able to be on friendly terms. They were always at each other's throats and sometimes their bickering led to arguments that Aoba had to unfortunately stop time after time. Noiz was the one thing that Koujaku was not looking forward to seeing when Aoba came back but, judging from his appearance now, it looks as if he had changed drastically. He looked much more mature now, especially since all of his piercings are gone and his hair has grown out. "_Maybe, just maybe, he's different. Maybe Aoba changed him for the better" _thought Koujaku as he headed towards Noiz. At first Noiz didn't notice Koujaku walking up to him but, as soon as he did, instead of giving him a welcoming look, he gave Koujaku a confused look that even confused Koujaku.

"Hey Noiz! It's been a while huh? It's really nice seeing you again. How are you doing?" Koujaku asked, though, instead of it sounding sincere, it came out really forced. Koujaku made a mental note of that. At first, Noiz didn't say anything. He continued to stare at Koujaku with a painful confused look that put Koujaku on edge. He decided to swallow down his boiling blood a bit and try again. "What's with that confused look Noiz? I mean, c'mon, I know you were Germany for a while but you couldn't have forgotten about me! I didn't change THAT much" joked Koujaku, though it still came off as forced once again. No matter how long it's been since they last saw each other, Koujaku still couldn't keep the bile from coming up as he viewed Noiz. He hated him with a burning passion and his patience hated him even more. For humanity's sake, he hoped Aoba would show up as soon as possible so he wouldn't ruin this vacation for Aoba.

[In German]" Um, I'm sorry to say but I'm not sure who you are sir and I can't really understand you. I think you're confusing me with someone else. I apologize." finally spoke the golden haired boy, who Koujaku had been mistaking for Noiz. His voice seemed very fragile and beautiful, especially since he was speaking a foreign language.

However, since Koujaku knew that Noiz could speak German fluently as well as Japanese, he thought the golden haired boy was making fun like Noiz would have done and finally burst his impatience. He grabbed the collar from the boy's fine shirt and gripped it with tight fingers. This, of course, prompted the boy to have a terrified expression on his face as Koujaku yelled at him. "Hey, listen you little piece of shit! I'm so fucking sick of you and all the shit you pull out of your ass! It seems you haven't changed in these past years and I'm wondering how Aoba hasn't left your dumb ass yet! You're an immature piece of shit and I hope you fucking get mauled by a pack of wildebeests and they tear off your balls inch by inch and-"

"KOUJAKU!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" screamed an incredibly familiar voice slightly behind the duo. Hearing his name from said voice, Koujaku immediately stopped screaming and almost froze in place. After a few seconds, Koujaku, still gripping the collar, slowly turns his head to the person who just screamed and his face suddenly grows pale as he got a confirmation on who the voice belonged to. There stood Aoba, holding a small bag with pastries and two cups of a drink. Aoba stared at the two of them with an exasperated face and he slightly froze too.

The only one who didn't seem to be frozen in time was the golden haired boy. Once Aoba came into the picture, the boy sighed in relief and smiled. [In German] "Oh Aoba, you showed up right in time! Thank you! Though, do you know this man?"

Aoba unfroze himself and sighed. He composed himself a bit and placed all the items on the table that the boy was sitting at. He sat down right next to him. [In German] "Unfortunately I do. This hippo's name is Koujaku. He was my childhood friend growing up here. I'm sorry you've had to deal with him. He's had a beef with Noiz for the longest time so I guess all of this is a side effect of that."

Theo wiggled out of Koujaku's grip (which had softened a bit from his frozen state) and smiled at Aoba in response. [In German] "Ah, I see. I guess it just felt a bit strange to have a man attack me so suddenly. But at least you know him Aoba. It would have been problematic if it someone like you were describing to me earlier." He then turned to Koujaku, who was staring at the two with utter confusion since he didn't understand a shred of German, and lifted his hand towards him. "Hello, my name is Theo. I see you confused me with my older brother, Noiz. It's nice to meet you though!"

At the sound of Theo speaking Japanese, Koujaku jumped back a little bit and looked at him with utter confusion. "EH!? You knew Japanese!? Why didn't you respond to me in that instead of this other language?"

With that, Aoba decided to interject to explain to Koujaku what was going on. According to Aoba (to which Theo would nod his head a few times here and there), Theo decided he wanted to come along with Aoba and Noiz to Midorijima, thus explaining why he was there. Since Noiz had a few business things to take care of first, Aoba decided to take Theo around town so he could see what kind of environment they used to be in before moving to Germany. However, since no one knows Theo and could possibly mistake him for Noiz, Aoba told Theo to speak German to any person who approached him alone or whenever he wanted to tell Aoba something privately. This ensured that people wouldn't mistake him for Noiz and that he would be safe from any people who thought he was a resident. Midorijima, for some unknown reason, is especially kind to tourists so it's no wonder that Aoba wanted to protect Theo in some way.

After hearing all of this, Koujaku had a gwaning feeling inside of him to apologize. If not for himself, then for Aoba. Koujaku swallowed hard, looked at Theo apologetically, and bowed slightly. "Theo, I am so sorry for all the trouble I caused you. I had no right to do so and I'm very sorry. That was…immature of me and I'm sorry."

Theo gave Aoba a connecting look, prompting them to laugh and Theo waved his hand a bit at Koujaku. "Oh, don't you worry about it. I completely understand. It was all a misunderstanding. It happens all the time."

[In German] "What a hippo." Retorted Aoba jokingly, which prompted both him and Theo to laugh once again. Since Koujaku has no knowledge of German, he looked at them thinking that they were making fun of him and disliked him. Normally, Koujaku could care less about other people's opinions but Aoba's meant a lot to him. He cherished Aoba with all his heart and it hurt him to even think that he wasn't good enough for him. He was about to turn away when Aoba stopped him. "Hey, Koujaku, where are you going? Aren't you gonna sit with us? C'mon, it's been forever since we last saw each other! I want to hear all about your life since I left."

Suddenly, Koujaku could feel that aura that they once shared coming up to him again, warming him on the inside and out. It was so good to see his childhood friend again and nothing could take this feeling away from him now. Smiling from ear to ear, Koujaku sat a chair next to Aoba and began to tell him all the stories he had saved up from over the years.


End file.
